A RESCUE of a German sailor more than 60 years ago led to an enduring link of reconciliation with a Coventry man.

Hermann Frubrich was part of a wartime U-boat crew forced to come to the surface in the north Atlantic.

His commander and seven colleagues drowned. But Hermann's life was saved thanks to the men of HMS Forester, who included petty officer John Overton, now aged 86.

Mr Overton, of Baginton Road, Styvechale, forged a lifetime link with Mr Frubrich and recently received a message of peace that has been shared with ex-servicemen and women throughout Coventry and Warwickshire.

Mr Overton, a retired teacher, said: "Hermann and 44 other sailors were saved after our crew lowered lifeboats into the pitch darkness and took a chance that they would not be torpedoed by any other German U-boats.

"They came aboard as our enemies but by the time they disembarked as blindfolded prisoners of war in Ireland, they were practically shipmates.

"We stopped the soldiers in Londonderry hitting them with the back of their guns when for military reasons we had to blindfold them as they landed.

"On board we exchanged buttons from our uniforms - I still have mine and hoped to be able to exchange it back one day."

Mr Frubrich's letter was put on display in the Royal Warwicks Club, Coventry city centre, so that other servicemen could appreciate his sentiments.

Naval historian Reg Walker, aged 79, of Berkeley Road North, Earlsdon, Coventry, said: "I pinned up the letter in the club to show that despite the war, there was no enmity and no hostility between sailors.

"In the Navy you only have one enemy, and that's the sea."

The letter has now been passed on to members of the Lord Mayor's Peace Committee and a copy of the words is now lodged in the city archives.